Sensient Technologies Corporation $SXT Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• Institutional ownership remains high: California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Sensient Technologies stake by 3.2% to 42,369 shares, while institutional investors collectively own 90.86% of the company.
• Analysts are broadly bullish: Recent price-target increases from Robert W. Baird and UBS helped produce a consensus “Buy” rating and an average target of $140, compared with shares trading near $127.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: Sensient reported adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share and revenue of $462.08 million, exceeding estimates, with revenue up 11.6% year over year. The company also declared a $0.41 quarterly dividend, yielding about 1.3% annually.

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,369 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,408 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Sensient Technologies worth $5,223,674 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SXT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sensient Technologies during the second quarter worth about $818,403,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Sensient Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $211,264,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,046,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $90,494,000 after acquiring an additional 22,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,258 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $94,930,000 after buying an additional 4,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Sensient Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $77,955,000. Institutional investors own 90.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SXT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Sensient Technologies from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Sensient Technologies from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sensient Technologies from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Sensient Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Sensient Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.00.

Insider Transactions at Sensient Technologies

In other Sensient Technologies news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.48, for a total transaction of $155,376.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $951,936.96. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sensient Technologies Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of SXT stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.17. 108,287 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 401,342. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Sensient Technologies Corporation has a 1 year low of $82.60 and a 1 year high of $138.82. The company's 50 day moving average is $126.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.34.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.17. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The business had revenue of $462.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $448.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sensient Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sensient Technologies Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Sensient Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.20%.

Sensient Technologies Company Profile

Sensient Technologies Corporation NYSE: SXT develops and manufactures colors, flavors, fragrances, and other specialty ingredients used by food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, and industrial customers. Its products are designed to improve the taste, appearance, aroma, and performance of consumer and commercial goods.

The company's principal offerings include natural and synthetic food and beverage colors, flavor systems and extracts, botanical ingredients, pharmaceutical colors, and colors and fragrances for cosmetics, personal care products, and other applications.

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